Folding shoe-horn.



J. L. SOMMER.

FOLDING SHOE HORN. APPLICATION man FEB. I0, 1915.

Lfigfil 5. Patented Oct. 9,1917.

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TED S E m z roniviL. SOMMER, or NE ARK, NEW JERSEYIAsSIGNOR 'ro'J. nsoMER MANUFAC- TUBING oo nconronar oiv on NEW. JERSEY.

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To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN L. SoMMnR,a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Shoe-Horns, ofwhich the following is a specification. 1 v

The objects of this invention are to provide a shoe horn which can befolded into small compass when not in use; to'secure a strong hingedconnection of the handle and the shoe horn; to resiliently hold theparts in open or closed position; to employ a spring for this purposewhich is easily con-- structed and readily applied; to utilize thespring to limit movement of the handle as the same is folded onto thehorn; to secure simplicity of construction and operation, and to obtainother advantages and results as may be brought out in the followingdescription.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals ofreference indicate the same parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a side view'of a folding shoe horn constructed in accordancewith my invention and open ready for use;

- Fig. 2 is a similar view showing a certain side plate cut away;

Figs. 3 and 4 are views similar to Fig. 2, showing the device inpartially closed and entirely closed positions respectively;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section on line AA 0f Fig. 1;

Y Fig. 6 is a similar section of the device closed, and r Fig. 7 is adetail spring.

In the specific embodiment of the invenperspective view of the tionillustrated in said drawings, the reference numeral 1 indicates a shoehorn blade having a large rounded end 2 and a smallend' 3, with thelongitudinal edges 4 converging from said large end to the small one.Preferably the blade is transversely concave between its longitudinalconverging edges, as is common in shoe horns, and also said blade curveslongitudinally with its side which is transversely concavelongitudinally convex and its side which is transversely convexlongitudinally concave.

A handle member 5 is hinged flatw'ise" Specification of Letters Patent.:QPat'ented Oct. 9, 191 7. Application filed February 10,1915. SerialNo.'7,241.

upon thenarrow end 3 of theblade 1,..at the longitudinally concave side.thereof, and preferably the oppositeedges 6, f said handle .memberconverge toward its, free end substantially in alinementwith theconverging edges l, 4 of the blade, as shown.

Said handlemember'is adapted thereby to.

4 of the horn, preferablyv integrally. It

will be noted .that the side plate 8 is upon the side of the blade whichis longitudinally concave, so that the opposite side will pre. sent asmooth surface against which ones heel may slide in the use of thedevice. As shown, the side plate .8 preferably extends only a smallportion of the length of the blade 1, andis adapted at its inner end, orend nearest. the large end 2 of theblade, to engage onesshoe in use andlimit sliding .of the device down into the shoe as the footis slidinward. The hinge pin 7 extendsthroughboth the side plate -8 and theblade 1, and carries the handle member intermediate thereof, sothat'said handle member is securely ,mounted and prevented fromanymaterial lateral movement, and yet sinceithe side plate .8. isconnected to the blade at one longitudinal edge only the handle membermay be swung through 180, from extended position as shown in Figs. 1 and2 to folded position as shown in'FigL- Preferably the handle member 5 iscon structed to have some other utility'in addition toits function as ahandle, and-to this end .I have shown the same; providing a hook 10 atits free end whereby the-same may be used as a button hook, butobviously sides of its :hinge pin-7, forming opposite notches 11, 12thereat, and by virtueof these notches 11, 12 transverse shoulders areformed facing toward the pivot end of said handle member, the partsbeing so po-- sitioned and proportioned that one of these shoulders actsas a stop 13 adapted to engage the end of the web 9 when the handlevention. To this end the longitudinal'edge l'of the blade and thecorresponding edge of the side plate 8 are slotted, as at 14 adjacentthe inner end of the side plate, said slot extending through the web 9of the side plate. A'leaf spring 15 is provided, which is narrow enoughto be inserted edgewise between the said plate and blade through theslot 14, and at its outer end the spring is provided with a head 16adapted to lie in said slot 1 1 and limit the inward movement of saidspring. In assembling the device, the spring is inserted through saidslot, and then pressed orbent toward the connecting portion or web 9 ofthe side plate, so that its free end extends toward the adjacent orsmall end of the blade. The handle member is then mounted in positionwiththe leaf spring between the notched end of said member and the web 9of the side plate. The slot 1a is narrow enough, with respect to'thehead 16 of the spring, so that the spring is necessarily'bent when thusassembled, and presses resiliently against said end of the handlemember. Furthermore, the notches provide substantially straight edgeslongitudinally of the handle member, so that the leaf spring will'seatthereagainst and will resiliently resist any tendency to swing thehandle member. This construc tion affords a neat and highly efiicientmeans for holding the handle member in position, and is easilymanufactured and assembled.

A. closingstop is provided at the opposite side of the narrowed end ofthe handle member from the stop 13 above described, said closing stopbeing here shown as the shoulder 17 formed by cutting thenotch 11 and isadapted to engage the spring inter mediate of its ends when the handlemember is swung'into closed position. At the same ime, the free end ofthe spring engages the longitudinal edge of the notch, so that saidspring operates not only to resiliently resist the opening of the handlemember, but also resiliently limits the inward movement thereof, so asto retain the handle member longitudinally of the horn in proper closedposition. t is to be noted that when so closed, the' handle member liesclosely adj acent the blade, in contact therewith, and the hook lO isentirely protected so as not to engage and tear ones clothes whencarried in the pocket or the like.

Obviously detail modifications may be made in manufacturing my improvedfolding shoe horn without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention, and I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself exceptas required by the following claims when construed in the light of theprior art.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. In a folding shoe horn, the combination with a blade having a sideplate at one end of one of its lateral edges substantially parallel tothe body of the blade,-said side plate being shorter than the blade andexposing its other end for use, a handle member hingedly mounted betweensaid side plate and the body portion of the blade and adapted to beswung into open or closed position, and a leaf spring supported betweenthe body of the blade and the side plate adapted to engage said handlemember and resiliently retain the same in either open or closedposition.

2. In a folding shoe horn, the combination with a longitudinally curvedblade having a side plate at one end of itself on the con caveside'thereof and connected thereto by a transverse web along onelongitudinal edge of the blade, said side plate being shorter than theblade and exposing its other end for use, a handle member hingedlymounted between said side plate and the body portion of the blade andcurved in the same'direction and upon substantially the same radius ofcurvature as said blade, whereby inclosed position said handle membermay be folded to lie closely adjacent the blade.

3. In a folding shoe horn, the combination head in said slot too largeto pass between said blade and plate throughsaid slot and engaging atits opposite end the said-handle to resiliently retain the same ineither eX- tended or closed posltion.

JOHN LfSOh IWER. V

lVitnesses:

JOHN T. MORLOOK, CHARLES MUN'IRIGK.

(Easier. of this patent may be obtained. for five cents each, byaddressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I0. (2.

